Jun. 20, 2013

The Michigan Court of Appeals today reversed orders by an Ingham County judge that would have required greater disclosures by Gov. Rick Snyder about events leading up to the appointment of Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. / Romain Blanquart/ Detroit Free Press

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Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

Highland Park union activist Robert Davis is suing the Michigan Emergency Loan Board, which appointed Orr, and other defendants, alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act. / Patricia Beck/Detroit Free Press

Ingham Circuit Judge William Collette, who is presiding over a lawsuit seeking to overturn Orr's appointment, had refused to quash subpoenas seeking e-mails and other records from Snyder's office and from Orr. / Rod Sanford/Lansing State Journal

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LANSING — The Michigan Court of Appeals today reversed orders by an Ingham County judge that would have required greater disclosures by Gov. Rick Snyder about events leading up to the appointment of Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr.

Highland Park union activist Robert Davis is suing the Michigan Emergency Loan Board, which appointed Orr, and other defendants, alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act.

Ingham Circuit Judge William Collette, who is presiding over a lawsuit seeking to overturn Orr’s appointment, had refused to quash subpoenas seeking e-mails and other records from Snyder’s office and from Orr.

Collette had also ordered Snyder adviser Richard Baird to sit for a second deposition in the case and disclose the names of other candidates for Orr’s job.

In orders released today, Appeals Court Judges William Whitbeck, Patrick Meter and Michael Kelly reversed both of those orders.

The appeals court panel said the law allows the government “to withhold documents and other materials that would reveal advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.”

As for the testimony of Baird — who has held the title “transformation manager,” assists Snyder on personnel issues and is paid $100,000 a year from a Snyder non-profit corporation funded by anonymous donors — the court said the identities of the other Detroit emergency manager candidates is not relevant to the question of whether the Open Meetings Act was violated.

Davis, who is under federal indictment accused of stealing from Highland Park Schools as a board member, said a subpoena issued to Orr’s former law firm, Jones Day of Washington, D.C., was not part of the appeal and is not affected by the order.

Davis said he and his attorney still plan to depose Baird a second time but will not ask the names of the other candidates.